Peek Into My Life As A Sports Mom

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Today is Josh’s 13th birthday and it’s a very special day. He’s been looking forward to this day for a long time, but I’ll tell you if it weren’t for the doctors and nurses at the Wyoming Medical Center and Presbyterian St Luke’s hospital in Denver along with God, Josh wouldn’t be with us today.

Josh was born five weeks early and his lungs were not fully developed. Praise God for putting the idea of giving me the steroid injection to mature his lungs in the mind of my doctor, because the doctors in Denver told us that was the only thing that saved Josh. The other thing that helped Josh was his size. At 35 weeks, Josh was 5 pounds 6 1/2 ounces. Most children at that age are around 2 or 3 pounds. My doctor said if he would have gone full term he would have been over 10 pounds.

Right after Josh was born he was taken away to an incubator where they worked on him. I’ll tell you it was one of the scariest things we’ve gone through, but it was by the grace of God that we made it through. Minutes after he was born he was taken to have a chest X-ray done so they could put a tube in him to help him breathe. He would have another one while he was in Casper just to make sure it was in properly. He was put in the nursery and stayed there until the doctors and nurses from Denver could get here. Josh was in Casper for 7 hours and then he was flown to Denver.

We decided Kevin would go with him, but I would have to stay behind because I had a fever and they needed to find the source of it so they could help me to get better as well. The ambulance came with the doctors and nurses from Denver and they loaded Josh up and headed to the airport. After getting a mile or two away from the hospital it was discovered that Kevin was not with them, so they made a mad dash back to the hospital for him. Once they arrived at the airport Josh, Kevin, the doctors, and the nurses were loaded into a jet and they were on their way to Denver.

Once in Denver they would take a helicopter from the airport to the hospital but there wasn’t enough room for Kevin so they called ahead for a cab to take Kevin to the hospital. The cab driver got lost and Kevin had to walk a good while down the road before the two would meet. By the time Kevin made it to the hospital Josh was settled into his incubator in the NICU. We were able to get Kevin a room in the attached retirement community that the hospital had. He would make numerous daily trips to the NICU to be with Josh.

Meanwhile I was back in Casper stressing and feeling horrible. I was not able to hold Josh and that broke my heart. My doctor put me on antibiotics and my fever went away. After spending four days in the hospital I was finally able to go home, but I couldn’t bring myself to go by myself so Chris and I stayed at my mom and dad’s house until I was able to make the trip to Denver. After an additional two days I couldn’t handle it anymore so I made a call to my doctor. I told her one way or the other I was going to Denver and I’d hoped she would give me the ability to go. She gave me some medicine and sent me on my way. My mom and dad drove me and Chris to Denver so we could be with Kevin and Josh. After five days I was finally able to hold my little boy. He was so little and had all sorts of wires and cords attached to him.

While we were at the hospital Josh had lost a little over a pound. We were told he couldn’t leave until he was back up to birth weight so we were going to have to wait for him to get back up to the 5 pound 6 1/2 ounce mark as well. They did tell us he could go home on oxygen, but he might have to go back to the hospital in Casper if the level of oxygen he was at was at a certain amount. We prayed that would not be the case, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if it was the case.

Day after day we would visit Josh multiple times a day. We hated the thought of him being alone even though he had his own nurse to take care of him. There was a time or two where I’d wake up in the middle of the night and Kevin would be gone, but I always knew where he was. I woke up a few times, but couldn’t find my way so I wasn’t able to go. There were also a few times where both of us would be awake so we’d go together. The one thing that helped us was the place we stayed at was connected to the hospital so we had the ability to walk the halls to get to him.

After a week of being in the hospital and continually being with him, the nurses told us we needed to get out and do something. So we decided to go to Casa Bonita for dinner. We had to be back by a certain time so we could get in the hospital where we parked at, so we were limited on the time we had for dinner. We enjoyed our dinner, but truly missed Josh so we decided to go back. We could see the hospital but with all the one way streets we got lost. We finally made it back to the hospital with one minute to spare. What a relief!

During Josh’s stay in the NICU he had an IV in his head and needless to say that was horrible. He still has a scar from that IV and the hair won’t grow in that spot. He also had a feeding tube and the tube to help him breathe. Each time they tried to remove the tube he would stop breathing so the tube would have to be reconnected. He spent 7 days on a breathing tube before he was able to be taken off and put on oxygen.  At that point he was moved to the regular nursery. It was an exciting day to say the least.

On the 8th day we were scheduled to go home. We were so excited. In the final hours they were monitoring things and Josh had what they call a brady. This is where the heart skips a beat. We all have those but when they are caught on a monitor the hospital won’t let you go home. You must go 24 hours without one before you can leave. So the going home status was changed and we were stuck there again. Approximately 18 hours later, he had another brady so again we weren’t going home. While we understood why he couldn’t go home, it was frustrating and we were sad. Finally after 10 days of being there we were finally able to go home.

We put him in the only car seat we had and he looked so little. We had to put blankets and towels around him so he would fit. Thirteen years ago that was ok to do, but that’s probably not something they would allow to happen now. LOL  The trip home was scary, but God was there to protect us all along the way. Since we were both worried about him, I road all the way home in the back seat. Josh did a wonderful job and slept almost all the way home.

Thirteen years later, Josh is a wonderful child and you’d never know he was born five weeks early and spent time on a breathing tube. He’s energetic, loves to play basketball, soccer, and run in track. He loves playing games and is very good with a computer. He’s a happy and very funny kid and that’s wonderful to see.

Today I want to say happy birthday to a wonderful young man. I’m proud of you Josh and I love you so much. Have a great day buddy!

Today is a special day in our family. Today is Kevin’s birthday. We went camping for the weekend to celebrate his special day and weekend. Kevin is an awesome husband and an even better dad. He loves to play games with the boys, watch them play their sports, and do things with us as a family. He takes pride in what he gives to us and he takes care of us no matter what happens.

Kevin loves to work on cars, surf the internet, and spend time with us and that’s a wonderful thing. He has a wonderful knowledge of cars, electric, and he is a great cook. He’s not afraid to try something new and enjoys the thrill of the unknown. He’s a man of God and that makes me feel at ease. He knows how to encourage our boys so they will be men of God too..

Today I say Happy Birthday to the man I love. I love you Kevey!

Discussing allowance can be hard if you’re not prepared when it comes to talking with your children. There are a number of things you need to know and have in mind when it comes time to have this talk. Here are some tips for you to use when the time comes.

The first thing you need to do is decide what chores your children will do and you need to make this decision based on their age and ability. You don’t want to give them chores that are too hard for them and if you have younger children you don’t want to give your older children chores that are too easy, but just perfect for the younger ones. So it’s important to make this decision ahead of time.

The next thing to do is decide how much you will pay your children for the chores they will do. You can pay them per chore or per week, but it’s important that they know how they will be paid. It’s also important for them to know what happens if they don’t do the chores. While this is hard to enforce, you must do it so they know you are series. It’s also a good way for them to know what happens in the real world when they get a job.

Once these two decisions have been made you need to decide how you will keep track of the chores and how you will assign them if they will be different from day to day or month to month. There are a couple of ways to do this, but not all of them may work. So you need to look into them and decide what you will use.

1. Chore list
2. Paper on the fridge
3. Whiteboard
4. Memory

Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages so you need to consider those before making a decision. The whiteboard and possibly the chore list will cost you money so you definitely want to think about those before you make the purchase. The paper on the fridge and memory don’t cost anything so you’re not out anything if they don’t work.

Paying allowance can be hard if you don’t regularly go to the bank or have cash on hand, so it’s important to make sure you find a way to get the money and pay them regularly. They will become discouraged and not want to do the chores if you don’t pay them like you decided. You may want to consider paying them when you get paid or get the money at the beginning of the month and then pay them each week.

Once the allowance discussions have been done it’s time to put everything into action. Make sure everyone knows when the chores must be done, what happens if they aren’t, and when payment will be made. It’s important to do chores and when you enforce it each day or week your children will become responsible adults from it.

Corrie Petersen runs a successful Virtual Assistant business and she’s the owner of http://WAHM-Articles.com. She is married and has a teenager and a tween. She loves spending time with her family. Catch up with everything she has going on when you go to http://peekintomylifeasasportsmom.com to read her mommy blog.

Yesterday my cousin Eric got married to his wonderful fiancé Ashley. Now I need to give you a little background information before you have an understanding of why the wedding was the way it was.

Eric and Ashley are very goofy and they love to laugh and smile. If you look through their pictures you’ll see pictures of them either smiling or making goofy faces. It’s also important to know that Ashley loves horses, her dogs, and her cats. Eric loves motorcycles and has been riding and competing since he was a little boy.

The bridesmaids had lime green dresses on and the groomsmen were black pants, black shirts, blue vests, and black Converse shoes with lime green shoe laces. Eric had black pants, a black shirt, a lime green vest, and black Converse shoes with blue shoe laces.

Ok so the wedding started out in an unusual way, but like I said before if you know them, there is nothing unusual about it. The wedding started a little late, but tell me what wedding doesn’t? So the pastor walks up to the front, then looked around, and put his hand in the air. The next thing you know you hear a loud motorcycle and then the pastor walked over to a tree near the house and then turned around and walked back.

My thoughts were, oh no this isn’t good. You see we were in the country so to speak so I thought for sure that’s what we were going to listen to for a while. I should have known better. Just seconds after that terrible thought came through my head the motorcycle sound gets louder and is next to us. It was Eric arriving at the wedding. He did a wheelie part way up and came around the tree and parked it on the stand by the tree. What an awesome entrance for a motorcycle lover. Yay Eric!

Ok so then all the bridesmaids and groomsmen come down the isle. Each of the groomsmen either hugging or shaking hands with Eric. Now next you would expect a ring bearer and a flower girl and that’s what you received so to speak. Those two positions were held by Ashley’s dogs. They looked lovely. The ring bearer dog had a little imitation suite around his neck and the flower dog had a veil on her head. It was just wonderful and again soooo Ashley. ?

Of course, Ashley was next to come and she looked just as beautiful as could be. Her shoes were not what you would expect to see on a bride. She was wearing black Converse shoes with glitter on them. How appropriate for a girl that doesn’t care to wear heels.

Once the beautiful ceremony was over and Ashley and Eric walked down the isle as a married couple and each bridesmaid and groomsmen skipped down the isle. Now traditionally the bride and groom would go for a car ride, but that’s not what happened. Eric and Ashley were loaded into a buggy and two of the groomsmen walked them down the street for a little ride. When they got back they changed drivers and had one of her miniature horses pull them the rest of the way in. We were all standing along the driveway and blew bubbles when they came down.

This wedding was an unusual one, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I know it will be one that Eric and Ashley will never forget. Sometimes we forget that a wedding needs and should be what you want and not what others want. It’s important to put your own touches into it and make it one that you’ll remember for the rest of your life. If you make your wedding what someone else wants, you won’t have fun and will likely forget what happened. Don’t let that happen.

Eric and Ashley… you guys are perfect for each other. I’m so happy for both of you.

While we were camping last weekend we ran into a squirrel that was unique. We saw him at least once almost every day while we were there. In fact it was beautiful as far as squirrels go. LOL What made this squirrel unique was his tail. You see the tip of it was white. It was almost as if someone had tied a small cotton ball to the tip of it.

You could see him coming from a distance because that tail stood out. He didn’t blend in with the ground or the trees because of it. He would go up and down the trees and he’d run around the ground almost as if he was playing. It was almost as if he was playing a game. He was entertaining to watch.

To entertain us he would run back and forth through the area. He would run around the trees, he’d go part way up a tree only to come back down a few seconds later. I’m not sure what the purpose was for him to do that, but it was funny to say the least. It was almost as if he didn’t have a care in the world so he was going to play and have a good time and that he did.

We had a number of visitors to our camp site over the weekend. Some were people and some were friendly animals. We had quite a few birds, squirrels, and deer that stopped by at one time or another. It was nice to see them stop by to see what we were doing.

The sounds mother nature gave to each of her animals is beyond me, but they are so peaceful and beautiful at the same time. I truly enjoyed listening to them and trying to figure out what animal was making that sound. The one that amazed me the most was the sound a squirrel would make. I would never have thought it would have made the sound it made. LOL

One of the most beautiful animals that stopped by would have to be the deer in this picture. He stopped to pose for Chris just so he could take the picture. It turned out perfectly and Chris did an outstanding job with it. Thanks for taking it Chris.

Today is a special day in our household. 18 years ago today I married my best friend and a wonderful man. It was the most beautiful day and a funny one too boot. LOL

We planned our wedding for 12 1/2 months and for the majority of that time we talked about an outdoor wedding. You see, my mom kept harping on us about an outdoor wedding. She kept saying it’s Wyoming and the weather is very unpredictible. One minute it can be gorgeous and the next minute the wind will come up and it’s raining. For seven or eight months she did this and finally we gave up and reserved a church.

Now the funny part of that story is what happened with the weather that day. Our wedding was to start at 2 pm, but I wasn’t ready yet so is didn’t start until around 2:15 pm. We weren’t even 10 minutes into it and we hear this loud boom and the lights flickered. So of course you know what that meant. LOL It poured outside. So needless to say, we were thankful we listened go my mom and reserved the church.

I have many other memories of our wedding even though I don’t remember the ceremony itself, which I’m sure is pretty typical. At the time, my dad was the fire dept mechanic and so he asked the fireman to come in their truck and take us from the church to the Eagles Lodge where we had the reception. They went through the city with their lights on while Kevin and I were in the passenger seat.

I also remember my little ring bearer. He was around six at the time. He did good walking up the isle, but once he got there it wasn’t so good. He wanted to lay on the floor and at one point he even took his shoes off and kicked them up in the air. He did all of this while the ceremony was going on. All I can say is I’m glad I didn’t see it going on. LOL

Even though we had a few minor problems, our wedding was beautiful and it was the perfect start to our wonderful life together. 18 years later we have two wonderful boys, a beautiful home, a camp trailer, an awesome truck, and a bunch of other stuff as well. I couldn’t have asked for a better life and it’s all because of the wonderful man I married 18 years ago today. Happy Anniversary Kevey! I love you bunches.

A camping trip can be so fun and exciting, but if you forget something it can be a bad thing, especially if you forget something that is vital for the trip such as medicine, a pan to cook in, or food. Depending on what is forgotten you may have to make a trip to the store or worse back home. Being prepared is a better thing as it gives you more time camping and less time worrying about things. Here are some suggestions that might help you to remember everything you need.

1. To-do List

The best thing to do when you decide to go camping is to create a to-do list. You’ll want to create it early so you can add things as you remember them. A to-do list will be your best friend when it comes to the preparation of your camping trip.

When you create your to-do list it will help you to remember everything you need to do and bring for your trip. Included in this list should be the food you’ll want to bring, the sleeping items like blankets, pillows, tent, etc that you’ll need, personal items like medicine, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, and soap, and you’ll need to bring propane or gasoline.

2. Purchase ahead of time

Waiting until the last minute to do your grocery shopping and make your other purchases will only cause problems in the long run. You’ll be pressed for time and you could potentially forget something. This could cause you to have to make a change in your meals or something else or you’ll have to go back and possibly cause you to pay more if you go to a closer store with higher prices. Making your purchases several days ahead of time will prevent this from happening because you’ll have more time to shop and if you do forget something you can go back again.

3. Pack early

When you pack early you have time to think about what you’ll need and to make sure you don’t forget anything. It will also give you time to prepare your camp trailer or the area where you have your camping gear. This will help you to remember the important things you’ll need to bring like batteries, dish soap, toilet paper, and many other things you always need while you’re gone.

Camping is a lot of fun, but it can be frustrating or be cause for a short trip when you forget things you need to make your trip successful. When you use these three tips you’ll have a better chance of forgetting things and that will make for a better trip.

Corrie Petersen runs a successful Virtual Assistant business and she’s the owner of WAHM-Articles.com. She is married and has a teenager and a tween. She loves spending time with her family. Catch up with everything she has going on when you click here to read her mommy blog.

We went camping at the lake this last weekend and I’ll tell you, we had a blast. It was nice weather and we had a great time with the boys and Kevin’s brother’s family.

We went out Friday night and came back on Sunday. The majority of the time was spent talking and fishing. On Sunday we spent most of the day on a boat and needless to say it was a lot of fun. We spent the morning fishing and then the afternoon we went to the canyon and around the water looking around and enjoying the water.

Fishing this time was a lot better then it was when we went over Father’s Day. Chris caught three fish, Josh caught two fish, Kevin caught two fish, and I caught one fish. Here is the information on each of them.

Chris

13 ounces and 1 foot
8 ounces and 11 inches
1 pound and 13 inches

Josh

1 pound 4 ounces and 14 ½ inches
13 ounces and 13 inches

Kevin

1 pound 6 ounces and 16 ½ inches
1 pound 5 ounces and 15 inches

Corrie

1 pound 4 ounces and 14 ½ inches

Needless to say the fish we caught this time were pretty good in size. Several of them put up a huge fight and that was wonderful. We had a great time bringing them in and the smiles were wonderful.

This weekend we’re going to the mountain for some relaxing time. It will be nice to be in the cooler air and not spend the time watching a fishing pole. LOL

After spending a weekend away from home coming back to reality is hard to do. I think the reason reality is so hard to deal with is because you left it behind when you left. You didn’t think about your work or your bills or anything else like that. Probably the hardest thing you had to think about was what you were going to cook for dinner or when you would allow the kids to play in the water.

Reality is what it is and while it’s hard to come back to, it’s a must. We have to do it at some point whether we want to or not so you might as well deal with it and come back with a relaxed frame of mind.

If it was hard for you to come back to, then you need to consider getting out more so you have more of those reality free days off and away. No matter how busy you are, if you plan properly and ahead of time you can make reality free days happen more often then not. Even if you did it two or three times a month it will be worth it in the long run.